Artificial fish bait



July 1, 1924. 1,499,819

' B. G. G OBLE ARTIFICIAL FISH BAIT Filed` Feb. 6. 1923 2 Simoni-Sheet vl July 1, 1924. y 1,499,819

B. G. GQBLE ARTIFICIAL FISH BAIT Filed Feb. 6. 1923 2 Sheats-Shaet 2 Patented July l, 19,24.

umrnn STATES BERT G. GoBLE, or TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

ARTIFICIAL FISH BAIT.

Application led February 6, 1923. Serial No. 617,408.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, BERT G. Gonna, a

-citizen of the United S-tates, residing at Tulsa, in the county of Tulsa and` State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Fish Baits, of which the following is a specifi cation.

M invention relates to improvements in artifibial iish baits, and one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a device of this kind that will be an effective lure by being made to closely resemble a live fish in its movements and appearance.

Infishing with an articial minnow it is desirable to have the minnow make both -a Wiggling motion and a darting or wabbling motion as it is drawn through the water. In fish lures having a freely swinging tail for permitting a wiggling motion, as heretofore known,'the line is attached at the end of the nose. With such a construction, the above mentioned tail-wiggling effect is attained only when used in a swift current. Vhen the lure is drawn through still water, little or no wiggling of the tall and darting takes place. l

I make it possible to obtain both of the Y life-like motions of wiggling and darting or wabbling under all water l'conditions by providing a lure, having a freely swinging tail and a dodge or course regulating mouth plate, with variable line fastening means, the point of attachment of the line and the bend ofthe free forward end of the mouth plate depending upon water conditions and the degree of wiggling and darting and depth of fishing desired.

Another object of my invention is to provide an artificial minnow with an open mouth styled to imitate a fish about to bite and formed so that the upper surface of the lowerjaw is forwardly and downwardly inclined, and a dodge or course regulating plate fastened on said surface and having a bendable projecting forward end adapted to be verticall flexed for varying ,the dodge or course o the bait at will.

A further object is Fto provide means attached to the head of the bait for supporting a fly directly in front of the open mouth so as to give the appearance of a sh about to catch the'fly.

. Still another object of this invention is to generally improve and simplify fish baits. i

With the above general obJects in view,

and others that will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more' fully described, shown in the accompanymg drawing and claimed.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters represent kcorresponding parts throughout the several views,

Fig. .1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a fish bait constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of the device shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the dodge or course regulating mouth plate,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing a modified form of a part of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in side elevation Vandl partly in section, showing the bait equipped with a modified form of line faste-ning and fly supporting means.

Fig. 7 is a perspective viewof thelstripy of sheet metal employed in Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 6 showing still another modification of the line fastenin and fly supporting means.

Re erring more in detail to the several views, 5* indicates the main buoyant body of the bait .having-a head 6- .with

-9-, the lower jaw 10 being p-rovided with a flat forwardly'and downwardly inclined upper surface upon which is fastened ya dodge or course regulating plate l1- The'V plate l1 is of greaterwidth than the head of the baitand projects beyond the forward end of the jaw -10- so as to provide a flexible forward end adapted to be bent up or down for regulating the course of the bait. The plate -11- preferably includes a pair of side rearwardly projecting tongues -12- which engage the sides of the head -6- so as to brace said plate, and an upturned apertured lug 13 is provided between the tongues so that a screw or nail lllmay be driven therethrough -into the head for securing the plate in place. A screw eye l5- may also be passed the horizontal center of the bait in the open mouth.

Suitable planes 16- are vattached to the sides of the body -5 by means of integral spurs -17- which are driven into the body and screws -18- which are driven through flanges -l9-, of said planes, into the body. Hooks 20- are attached to the body -5- directly. under the planes -16- so that the latter prevent said hooks from Swinging up over the back of the bait and becoming hooked together.

A freely swinging tail section w21- is attached to the main body -5 and further fins -9- and planes and hooks -16- and -20- respectively may be similarly carried thereby.

The swinging tail section embodies a rear body portion -22-- of buoyant material, such as wood, and a tail per se A-23-, preferably of light metal. The rear end of the main body -5- is preferably convexY and the forward end of the rear body portion Q2- is concave, so that these members may be closely related for giving a neat appearance and permitting limited free swinging of the tail section. The pivotal connection between the main body and the tail section preferably embodies metal strips-2% extending forwardly from the tail 23 along the top and bottom of the 'rear body portion -22- and flatly engaging portion formed with an eye -30- for attacliing a fly or the like -31- in position so as to give the appearance of the fish being about ready to catch said Hy. The member loop -29- above the eye -30- and an eye -30- under the upper jaw as further points for attaching the line so that a fine adjustment of the action of the bait may be obtained. rllhe member 28` preferably embodies a piece of wire looped to form the eyes and having sharpened ends directed into the under surface of the upper jaw and into ,the head rearwardly of the fishs eyes -8-, as shown in F ig. 1.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the pivotal connection between` the main body --5- and rear body portion -22- may be varied. lin these iigures the main body has a concave 28- preferably includes also ay recaer@ rear end to which is secured and fitted an arcuate plate -32 having projecting bendable sides -33- and rearwardly projecting top and bottom ears -34-. r lt he rear body portion has the tail -23- with forwardly extending top and bottom strips -24 which terminate under the ears #341- rearwardly of the forward end of the portion 22-, and a pivot pin -25- passes through said portion 22 and .the strips -24- and ears B4- By bending the sides -33- of plate -32-, the limit of the swinging of the tail Jsection may be varied. f f

When the bait is trolled or placed in a running stream, the inclined plate will force the bait to submerge 'or rise according to how the projecting end of said plate is bent, the plate inducing an erratic, darting or wabbling movement to the bait. rlihe open mouth and lfreely swinging tail section add tothe life-like appearance of the bait, and swinging of the tail section or wiggling of the bait is insured in still water by attaching the line Vfarther back from the forward end of the body portion. rl"he combination of the dodge regulating plate in the open mouth and the freely Swingin tail section makes the device a killing bait, while the supporting of the fly directly in front of the open mouth adds to its effectiveness. Also, the swinging of the tail is varied readily and insured in slowly running streams by the provision of means for securing the line at a plurality of points at varying distances from the forward end of the main body.

llt is to benoted that the open mouth of the fish is so formed as to present the lower jaw -10- in a forwardly and downwardly extending inclination so that this jaw alone will produce a wabbling or darting motion of the bait when thel latter is drawn through the water, while this motion may be augmented or varied by the additional use ofthe plate 11-.

Referring to the form of the invention shown in 6, the head of the bait is provvidedwith a series of transverse grooves 4G- in its upper surface which are located progressively at .greater distances from the forward end of the bait, and a sheet metal strip .-41- is suitably fastened Iin placeon the upper surface of the head of the bait longitudinally of the latter so as to overlie the grooves -40--and thereby provide a series of eyes which may be selectively employed for attachment of the line. rli`he strip '-41 preferably extends downwardly to a point in the same plane as the under surface of the upper, jaw of the bait and then projects forwardly to provide an extension -42. The strip is thenr return-bent to provide a lower 'leg -a3- adapted to be suitably Isecured Medela against the under surface of said upper jaw. This leg portion -43- may be olfset as at 44- and -45- so as to provide a plurality of points forwardly of the for- Ward end of the bait to which the line may be conveniently attached or from which a iiy may be suspended as desired.

ln the form of thek invention shown in F ig. 8 the construction is substantially the same as that of Fig. l except that the strip -28- is formed to provide an upwardly extending arm e6- the outer or free end of which terminates in an eye e7- By this arrangement the line may be attached to the eye -47- when a leverage is desired for causing the bait to swim deep. Ob-

viously with the-line so attached the nose of the ish will be pulled downward and cause the bait to submerge. Also, it is obvious that this lever arm may be employed with either of the forms of the invention shown in Figs. l and 6.

Minor changes may be` made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. Y

What I claim as new is l. A fish lure including a main body having a freely swinging tail section and formed with an open mouth, and a dodge regulating plate fastened in the open mouth of said main body.

'2. In a fish lure, the combination with a main body portion` having a freely swinging tail section, of means forvarying the swinging of said tail section when the lure is retrieved, said means comprising means for securing the line at a plurality of points at varying distances from the forward end of said body portion.

3. `In' an artificial bait, a loatable main body, a freely swinging tail section attached to the rear vend of the body, said bod having an open mouth, and a plate y secured in the open mouth of the dy on the upper surface of the lower jaw vof said body, the plate including a pro'ecting forward end adapted to be iexe vertically for regulating the course of the bait when retrieved.

4. A dev-ice like that described in claim 1 wherein the dodge regulatin plate is of greater width than the forwar end of the body and embodies rearwardly projecting tongues having their inneredges engaging the sides ofthe head of the body portion, said plate further including a forward end portion projecting vbeyond the forward end ing a freely swinging tail section and formed with an open mouth, a dodge regulating plate fastened in the o en mouth of said main body, and means or varying the swingin of said tail section when the lure is retrleved, said means comprising means for securing the line at a plurality of points at varying distances from' the forward end of said body portion.

7. ln combination with a fish lure including a main body portion formed'with a head havin an open mouth, of means rigid with said ody portion and supporting a fly directly in front of the open mouth, said last named means further embodying means for varying the action of the lure when retrieved by providing means for the attachment of a line thereto at a plurality of points.

8. In a fish lure, the combination with a main body portion having a freely swinging tail section, of means to adjustably limit, at will, the degree of swinging movement allowed said tail section.

9. In a fish lure, a body portion having a plurality of transverse grooves in the upper surfacev of its forward end, and a longitudinal strip secured to thebody and overlying said ooves so as to provide means for securing the line at plurality of points Aat varyin distances from the forward end of sai embod ing a forwardly extending member forme to support a Hy infront of the forbody portion, said strip ward end of the body, and said body having 

